Angelus Errare
by Guile
Summary: Ranma/ChronoCross crossover; Ranma takes a trip via Akane Air, and wakes up on a strange beach... revised a bit, fixed some spelling mistakes, and added a new mini-chapter.
1. The Arbiter's Arrival... Sort Of - A C...

A/N: Just in case anyone reading this is interested, this is my second fic. As such, it probably won't be up to people's standards. Ah well. Anyway, I recently read a Ranma/ChronoCross crossover, and the idea took up residence in my brain and refused to leave till I wrote about it. Hope you enjoy the story, and please R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: All characters within this fic, those being Ranma 1/2 characters and possibly some of Chrono Cross, aren't mine. So nyah!  
  
Oh yeah, and it's written like this:  
  
"Text." - Speech  
  
~Text.~ - Thought  
  
//Text.// - Telekinesis or song quotes, if I do any in this story.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Airen!"  
  
"Where the hell am I now!?!"  
  
"Ranma-honey!"  
  
"Foul sorcerer! I shall smite thee! The vengeance of heaven is slow but sure!"  
  
"What are you up to with my future bride, Saotome?!"  
  
Ranma sighed tiredly as Mousse screamed incoherently and brought out a nine foot long spear, with which the myopic boy promptly attacked the ranting kendoist. He didn't even blink as Shampoo clobbered the blind boy and knocked him into a wall. He let out a yawn as Ryoga punched out a wall in his frustration, not realizing that he was, in fact, back in Nerima. Didn't bat an eyelash as Ryoga began to glow green, prompting Ukyo to beat him into near unconsciousness to prevent a ShiShi Hokodan going off in the middle of the street. Same old, same old.  
  
~Hmm...~ he thought. ~Akane should be right on by with that mallet aaaany second now... there we are, right on cue, if that blue aura is anything to go by.~  
  
He lazily watched the mother of all mallets, Mallet-Sama, round the corner. ~You know, I know that I'm kinda arrogant, and at times I can really be insensitive, but even I don't deserve this!!~ He didn't bother to listen as Akane spoke something or other, knowing that the mallet would be forthcoming no matter what he did.  
  
Then, he gave a start. That mallet wasn't coming in a down to up motion like usual, but an up to down. ~Ah, damn. This is gunna hurt. Maybe I can run...? Nah, that thing can defy the laws of physics and get me before I can get away. Oh well.~ As he watched the incoming spectre of doom, he wished he had gotten a last okonomiyaki, at least, before all this broke loose.  
  
WHAM!!!!  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ranma slowly came back to consciousness. He had just had a really, really wierd dream. Wierdness that was unusual even for a person for whom wierdness had become commonplace. He had dreamt of getting malleted, before dreaming of shooting through a chaotic swirl of spiraling green energy and crashing waves that was somehow a part of the scene. Like he had thought before; wierd.  
  
Then, it occurred to the pigtailed boy that he was on a beach. Not Nerima. He tried to think back. ~Did we go to the beach today...?~ No, there was no memory of a beach. Something must have blown up, he surmised, and he'd gotten thrown out here. Boom. ~Ah well, no hope for it. Time to walk, see where I am. Maybe I can get back to Nerima by nightfall.~  
  
And so our hero got up, brushed off his habitual red Chinese shirt and black pants, and broke into a jog. "Whoa," he muttered to himself. "I must have REALLY grabbed some sky. I don't remember any of this." As he was pondering this, it occurred to him that he was not alone. He looked up slowly, fearing the worst, and found the worst.  
  
It was big. Really, really big. No, bigger than that. A lizard as big as a greyhound bus. He exploded (Boom! ^_^), "Why does the wierd stuff always happen to me!?" ~Okay, Ranma, no biggie, we just got a Komodo Dragon a few dozen times bigger than normal. You can win. Ranma Saotome never loses!~ After psyching himself up a bit, he felt confident enough to fire off a sizable Moko Takabisha. On a good day he could fire off half a dozen, but right now was not a good day, and he was facing something that looked like the mother of all reptiles to boot.  
  
"Okay, big an' ugly. Let's start off easy and work our way up. Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!" At his words his arms moved forward without inertia, striking at the huge thing hundreds of times in a few seconds. However, he noticed something unusual. Unlike the times he had used the technique before, this time the Chestnut Fist seemed to trail silvery sparks as he attacked. ~Wierd, but time enough to worry about that later.~  
  
The thing reeled back a bit, but it's scaled hide was tough and it shrugged off the blows that would have crippled most human opponents. While Ranma took a mere second to rest, the thing leaped forward almost impossibly quickly. However, instead of attacking with its claws like the black-haired boy expected, the creature seemed to summon a fiery blaze around it, before releasing a swarm of mini-fireballs.  
  
While Ranma's body dodged, ducked, and rolled out of the way, Ranma's brain tried to wrap itself around what just happened. His brain called a brief conference. Body told brain that it indeed appear to be a fireball. Logic stated that that was impossible. Pride tried to say something, but was shouted down by Common Sense, who decided that whatever it was, they wanted to stay away from it. Common Sense beat out Pride for the 82nd time in Ranma's life thus far, as opposed to Pride's victories, which were 1,043.  
  
Shaking his head, the pigtailed boy decided it was time to stop fooling around before he got hurt. He gathered every shred and ounce of confidence he could dredge up. He was Ranma Saotome. He never lost. His massive ego swelled and roared. He began to glow.  
  
As the azure energy gathered into his hands, he pumped up his confidence one last time before sending the ball of flaming blue straight at the lizard. The green reptile stared at its doom the way a deer stared at a car's headlights. When the sphere of arrogance struck, it kicked dust into the air.  
  
When the dust settled, the creature lay still. And before Ranma's astonished eyes, it slowly dissipated into shining green sparks that flew towards the victor. Before Ranma could dodge, the glowing motes of light faded into him, and he felt revitalized. The burns he had received from the fireballs vanished, and he could feel his strength and power increase. He felt like he could beat anyone, do anything, pluck the moon from the night sky if it so suited him.  
  
He had never felt anything quite like it. He knew that every time he trained or fought his skill sharpened, but this was different. It was as if he had taken on the essence of the fallen beast itself. And even as he enjoyed the new physical benefits, a spell etched itself into his brain. He understood how the monster had pulled that fire trick, and how, with a bit of practice, he too could convert his ki into flame.  
  
He was almost surprised that the earth did not tremble and shake at his coming, that lightning did not flash across the sky, that woodland creatures did not flee at his approach. He saw a small fishing village in the distance. He grinned an easy, cocky smile.  
  
Watch out, world. Ranma Saotome has arrived. 


	2. Life and Death - Nothing Has Changed B...

A/N: Very short I know, but I had to get Arni Village out of the way before I could get to Cape Howl and the next battle, which are really what I write best, angst and fight scenes. Anyway, please R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: All characters within this fic, those being Ranma 1/2 characters and possibly some of Chrono Cross, aren't mine. So nyah!  
  
Oh yeah, and it's written like this:  
  
"Text." - Speech  
  
~Text.~ - Thought  
  
//Text.// - Telekinesis or song quotes, if I do any in this story.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
When Ranma entered the fishing village, the first thing he noticed was the fish. It was huge, easily weighing ten times his own weight. He was pretty sure that there were no swordfish that big in Japan. Or any swordfish period, in fact.  
  
Ranma put the fish to the back of his mind. He had more important consaiderations right now. Like food. Food was always of first priority, unless it concerned the Art, and even then it was a close thing.  
  
"Hey! Old man! Is there anywhere where I can get something to eat around here?" The old man in question looked up, took in the strange hair style and odd clothes, shrugged, and pointed towards the only tavern in Arni village.  
  
The pigtailed boy entered the place and was promptly struck dumb. There, sitting on a stool at the bar was Akane! After a moment of staring, he noted that her hair was quite a bit longer than before, about the length before Ryoga had sliced it accidentally with his belt-sword. ~Things... are getting wierd again. Dammit, somehow, I just know some superpowered martial artist/evil threat to the world/wierd Chinese spell/Akane's cooking that became sentient or something is going to show up and attack me. ~ His mouth made an attempt at speech.  
  
As he watched, the female in question summoned a wooden spoon in the same way she had always summoned hammers before, and bonked a rambunctious youngster on the head with it, before making it disappear.  
  
"A-Akane? What are you doing here?"  
  
The girl blinked and looked at Ranma. "Umm... yeah, I live here. Do I know you?"Ranma blinked a few times in response. "Well, yeah. I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome? Do ya remember me?" Akane's eyes seemed to look far away as she replied, "I once knew someone at this village named Ranma Saotome, but he died when I was seven. He drowned. His mother passed away soon after. His grave is up on Cape Howl. Maybe you should visit there, not too many people go up there anymore. Excuse me, I have chores to do."  
  
Without another word, Akane stood up and hurried off. Ranma was left staring after her. He whispered, "A Ranma Saotome who drowned here ten years ago...? Guess there's no choice but to go to this Cape Howl and see for myself. This just gets wierder by the minute..." 


	3. Cape Howl; Sir Kuno Enters - A Reminder ...

A/N: I never really liked Akane, so she won't play much of a role here. Most of the other characters from Ranma will have bigger parts, as it were. Also, I'm veeery slow in updating, and the chapters are probably still going to be pretty short, though I'm working on it. Once more, please R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: All characters within this fic, those being Ranma 1/2 characters and possibly some of Chrono Cross, aren't mine. So nyah!  
  
Oh yeah, and it's written like this:  
  
"Text." - Speech  
  
~Text.~ - Thought  
  
//Text.// - Telekinesis or song quotes, if I do any in this story.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ranma looked down at the rock jutting from the ground overlooking the sea and thought back on the week it took to arrive at this point. It had taken so long because he had stopped periodically to work on the new skill he had picked up from that massive lizard-thing. He had learned from a few travelers he had met that there were six known 'colors' of what they called magic. Red, blue, green, yellow, white, and black.  
  
So far, he had learned to convert his ki into magic for some basic but still quite amazing spells. He could now cast with some authority Fireball, Cure, a minor rock attack spell called Uplift, and some sort of light spell called Photon Ray. The pigtailed martial artist was confident that if he practiced and meditated a bit, more might come to him.  
  
He stopped thinking about the matter entirely as he took another look at the overgrown tombstone. After clearing away a bit of the green, he could make out an inscription.  
  
  
  
| R.I.P. |  
  
| |  
  
| Ranma Saotome |  
  
| Died Age 7 |  
  
| |  
  
| No one can take anything away from him. |  
  
| Nor can anyone give anything to him. |  
  
| |  
  
| What came from the sea, has returned to the sea. |  
  
| |  
  
  
  
Ranma sat down suddenly. "Damn..." he whispered. Before he could even turn around, a voice pierced the cries of the seagulls. "So you must be the foul ghost-sorcerer Ranma, vagrant dog, who died here ten years ago!"  
  
Ranma twirled on one foot, and came face to face with a boy wearing a black and blue hakama. He wore an arrogant air about him, and an unsheathed sword was pointed at Ranma's face. behind him stood a pair of knights of some kind. Before Ranma could speak, he was interrupted as the other boy continued his speech. "Come hither, Ranma Saotome, or face thy doom! For if you do not..." Ranma tuned the sword-wielding boy out for a bit, then listened in. "...the vengeance of the heavens is slow but sure! And..." Ranma considered jumping over the cliff to escape the arrogant monologue, but found he was loathe to do so and ruin his favorite outfit.  
  
The boy continued. "I am Tatewaki Kuno, of the illustrious house of Kuno in Termina! If you do not..." Ranma wondered idly if he could plead temporary insanity for killing the Kuno. How Kuno had also gotten here was beyond him. Same stupid speeches as ever, though. He also noted the boy was packing steel this time. "...otherwise, I shall SMITE THEE!!! DRAW THY WEAPON!!!"  
  
"Now hold on a minute!" The stranger on the cliff above who had spoken tried to interject, but Tatewaki Kuno overrode the person. "-Furthermore, know then, Ranma Saotome, that-" By that time, the traveler had gotten fed up with the sword-wielding boy and jumped past, bashing him in the head with a large instrument as they did so.  
  
Ranma's new friend came to a stop, allowing Ranma to identify her. His would-be rescuer had long brown hair, and was clothed in black pants and a sort of red vest. In her hands she held what looked to Ranma like a massive spatula, and had several smaller ones strapped about her outfit. He stared as he recognized Ukyou in the get-up.  
  
"Uh, thanks there," Ranma began in a somewhat polite tone. "But, I really didn't need help there, 'specially not from a girl."  
  
. . .  
  
The female in question suddenly wished she had a mallet.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Kuno took that moment to leap up from his comfortable position on the ground. "HOLD! This battle has just begun!" His brain took a moment to compute the shapely female before him. "Ah, my godess! Truly, such a beauty as yourself does not help such low-born scum as Saotome! Say it is not so!"  
  
She blinked and looked over her shoulder at Ranma. "What is with this guy?" Ranma shrugged and replied, "You've known him as long as I have." Kuno once again interrupted. "Saotome~! How dare you hold such a sweet, innocent girl hostage! I will BREAK THEE!! YOU WILL KNOW HELL AND SUFFERING BEFORE I AM THROUGH!! DRAGOONS!! ATTACK!!!!"  
  
The put-upon lackeys gave a heartfelt sigh before pulling their weapons into position, an axe and spear, respectively, and charging. The girl swung the large spatula into guard position and blocked a spear thrust with the haft before twirling it and sending the dragoon flying. Ranma dodged the other dragoon's swing and attacked with his fists, the incredibly hard blows denting the armor but not doing much damage.  
  
Ranma shrugged, easily dodging a kick, and delivered a punch right between the fighter's eyes, putting him down for the count. Kuno did not look impressed, though it was more likely that he didn't even register his comrades' downfall. He slowly, and with as much dramatic flair as possible, raised his weapon and charged. Ranma went to meet him.  
  
Ranma was surprised to note that though he still looked as goofy as ever, Kuno seemed in top form, noticeably better than the last time he'd seen him. ~Not better'n me, though, of course!~ Ranma assured himself. Kuno ranted on. "Know now, sorcerer, my TRUE SKILL!! Feel the power of my ultimate technique!" With that, he began the chant that powered his concentration and focus. His arms trailed forward quickly, limmed in glowing green, dozens of strikes forming in a single second. "Dadadadadadada!"  
  
The pigtailed boy was amazed. Several times, Kuno had come close to hitting him, even tearing his shirt in places. ~Wow. He's actually impressing me.~ Before he could test out just how good Kuno had gotten, however, a massive fireball that dwarfed any Ranma could create erupted from his right, coming from Ukyou. Kuno sailed off into the stratosphere.  
  
And as with the big lizard thing, a green glow emanating from the losers of this skirmish was trnsferred to the winners, healing their tiredness and ailments. Again Ranma felt an increase in awareness and power, and his senses began to note things they had never picked up before. By now, the dragoon duo had run away, but in their haste they had left a few items on the ground.  
  
Ranma was a bit disappointed that he hadn't learned any spells off Kuno like he had with the lizard, but he figured he might get a chance to learn any spells this Ucchan might know. As he turned around, he noted an odd bracer Kuno seemed to have dropped. As he picked it up and brushed the dust off, he could see it more clearly. it was jet black and shiny, and seemed to glow the faint green Ranma had learned to associate with Kuno's innate magic.  
  
As he slipped it on his own right wrist, he could feel a small boost of strength flood him. He grinned. Maybe Kuno had some uses after all.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"So, hon, you okay?" Ukyou asked him. He yawned and replied, "Aw, sure. Kuno ain't too much of a challenge." She shrugged at him and continued, "Oh yeah, and my name's Ukyou Kuonji. A pleasure, I'm sure."  
  
He blinked and shelved the fact that Ukyou also didn't seem to know him, just like Akane. And Kuno seemed a bit off too. Didn't attack right away ranting about 'sorcerer this' and 'pigtailed girl' that. "Uh, yeah. I'm Ranma. Pleased ta meetcha."  
  
Then, recalling that spell she had cast, he slipped the topic of magic ever so subtly into the conversation. "So, can you teach me that magic ya were usin'??"  
  
The not-quite-okonomiyaki-chef rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, I just recently came to this here island, and I was wondering if ya might like to join me. Traveling alone isn't very fun, you know." In her mind, Ukyou was envisioning Ranma saving her from various evils and dangers, followed by a nice quiet walk on the beach. Then she realized what she was doing and stuffed the more romantic part of her into a mental box and buried it deep in her psyche.  
  
Ranma thought about it for about half a second before saying, "Sure, I'd like that." She nodded and beamed. "Right then! From here on out, we're real good mates now, ne?"  
  
Ranma just wondered what he'd gotten himself into. 


	4. Fossil Valley's Resident Ghost - The Ete...

A/N:  
  
Disclaimer: All characters within this fic, those being Ranma 1/2 characters and possibly some of Chrono Cross, aren't mine. So nyah!  
  
Oh yeah, and it's written like this:  
  
"Text." - Speech  
  
~Text.~ - Thought  
  
//Text.// - Telekinesis or song quotes, if I do any in this story.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ranma, for one, was actually having fun on this trip. Sure, his life was in danger all the time, but by the way he figured it, this was going to be the closest thing he'd ever get to a vacation. And he was learning some interesting new tricks, too.  
  
From Ukyou he had learned the trick of increasing the power of his magic at the cost of more effort. For instance, he could double the strength of his fireball spell, but it would take twice as much of his energy. And, having watched Ukyou use that Magma Bomb element of hers, he could now pull that one off with relative ease as well.  
  
He decided to strike up a conversation with his traveling partner to see if he could find out any more about their destination. "So Ukyou, why're we goin' to 'Termina', anyway? And how do we get there?" Ukyou paused, thought about it a moment, and replied, "Well, to get to Termina, we need to go through the Fossil Valley, and then it's a clear shot straight to the town. As for why, that clown Kuno was an Acacia Dragoon, and they all hang out in Termina. Maybe we can find out what all that 'ghost-sorcerer' nonsense was." ~And the other reason you'll not hear from me,~ the girl added silently.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"You may go through if you stick to the lower pass, but our men are still exploring supernatural phenomena on the high ground," the armored Dragoon stated. The other guard added, "And watch out for any wild monsters around here."  
  
Ukyou nodded and beamed a smile at the guards, nearly causing them to melt. "Right then, let's go, Ranma." Once they passed the two Dragoons, Ukyou wondered aloud, "I wonder what kind of supernatural activity..." Ranma, having been his world's Ukyou's best friend for years, noted the almost crazed gleam in the girl's eyes. Most anyone else would have been just slightly apprehensive, but our pigtailed hero just grinned and went along with it.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"Stupid armadillo things," Ranma muttered as he kicked another one out of the way. "This is supposed to be a monster?" Ukyou just raised her voice to be heard over her companion's mutterings. "Yes, we're here to help you with that disturbance up top."  
  
The Dragoon blinked and replied, "You're the exorcists we asked for?" Ukyou just smiled and lied easily, "Oh yes, absolutely, hon. Can we pass now?" ~Too easy.~ Just to make sure, she upped the cuteness factor by another ten percent. The Dragoon melted like a snowball in a blast furnace.  
  
"C'mon, Ranchan. Let's go on up." As she climbed the rope ladder, the Dragoon's eyes followed her up, and up, and up... and thus didn't see the surreptuous elbow that bashed him in the face. Ranma snickered, "Sorry 'bout that..."  
  
The moment they got up, they heard the echoing curses and swear words that seemed to bounce off the canyon walls. The variety was impressive. A Dragoon in gold platemail stopped them. "You must be the exorcists. You hear those curses? All we want is for you to stop it. I don't believe in ghosts, but go do what you have to do." Ranma shrugged, and the duo wandered up to the massive skull that was rather reminiscent of a dragon, from which the sounds seemed to emanate.  
  
Ukyou bashed it with her spatula, and the skull's mouth opened a bit, displaying some impressive incisors. About ten seconds later, a boy about their own age rolled through the now open mouth. He stood up slowly and stretched before exclaiming, "Thanks! I thought I'd be stuck wandering around inside that thing forever!"  
  
Ranma sighed in exasperation. "Ryoga Hibiki. Figures." ~The boy that can get lost inside a room with one door and no windows. Although, he seems to be sporting a new look.~ Instead of his usual dark green pants and yellow shirt, Ryoga had on a suit of dark brown leather, and Ranma could see a hint of a chainmail undershirt at his collar. Instead of his usual black and yellow bandanna, he had a pure white one that trailed halfway down his back. And instead of his customary megaton umbrella, he was holding a meticulously cared-for bronze sword in an easy grip that bespoke his ability with it. Ranma also noted a cross-shaped scar on his lower jaw, and the bronze gauntlets tucked into his belt.  
  
Ryoga looked over at Ranma and responded, "Yeah, that's me. What of it?" Ranma noted that even though this Ryoga was not the death-threat shouting, umbrella-wielding berserker that he was familiar with, he still seemed to always scowl and look morose at the same time, which only Ryoga seemed able to pull off, and his emerald green eyes were serious. ~I guess Ryoga doesn't change, no matter what happens to 'im.~ The thought was oddly comforting.  
  
And then Ryoga shifted his gaze to Ukyou and his thought processes shut down. After the bandanna'd boy had not done anything but stare vacantly at her for a few moments, Ukyou whipped out her monster spatula and clobbered him. The Lost Boy didn't show any signs of damage, but the hit did bring him out of his stupor. Mostly. "Uh, r-right." He bowed formally. "I am Ryoga Hibiki, of the Acacia Dragoons of Termina. A pleasure to meet you both."  
  
~Maybe these guys aren't so different from the ones I'm used to after all,~ The pigtailed boy thought with a grin.  
  
~ ~ ~ 


	5. The Interlude - Lost on the Road to Term...

A/N: This chapter is pretty much just a chance to answer a few questions and assorted replies to some reviewers, and a little making fun of Ryoga's ability with directions, or more specifically, lack thereof. Please bear with me, and R&R  
  
Necratoid: Ah, okay, thanks for clearing the telekinesis/telepathy thing up. Also, it wasn't really a fire dragon he was fightin, it was an early boss from ChronoCross, called the Mama Komodo, which is pretty much a weakling with a fireball attack compared to the other bosses of the game.  
  
Final-Fan: Heh, I really, really don't like Ranma, but the other characters seem to circle around him, so I figured I'd use him as the main character anyway.  
  
Mark Soul: Yeah, I'm about as slow as ya can get in regards to updating. Real life is so overrated, and tends to take away from the important things, like fanfiction.net, but I feel the need to participate anyway, occasionally.  
  
Ecthelion: Ryoga and Kuno are my favorite characters of the show, along with Ukyo, so I gave 'em decent parts. I've pretty much got the characters mapped out, except for Harle. Kodachi seems to fit her pretty well, but the Kuno sister is a bit more... unstable that the 7th dragon is. Ah well. And I can't say as I care for Akane either, so I guess I did rush her part quite a bit.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: All characters within this fic, those being Ranma 1/2 characters and possibly some of Chrono Cross, aren't mine. So nyah!  
  
Oh yeah, and it's written like this:  
  
"Text." - Speech  
  
~Text.~ - Thought  
  
//Text.// - Telepathy or song quotes, if I do any in this story.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"I TOLD you we shouldn't follow the Lost Boy, but would you listen? Noo..." Ranma looked around. Our heroes were currently atop a massive pyramid on a tiny island, surrounded by water on every side. Ukyo had acquired a nervous twitch.  
  
The boy in question looked up from the floating jewel he was inspecting and glowered. "Belt up, Saotome," he muttered irritably. "I know where I'm going, I just like to... take the scenic route." That was too much for the female of the troop, and her weapon of destruction seemed to materialize in the slightly-deranged chef's hands as she swooped down like an angel of retribution upon the helpless boy. Ranma looked on in rapt fascination as Ukyo wielded her spatula with extreme prejudice. It was always interesting to see a furious girl when he was not the recipient.  
  
  
  
*WHAM!* "Jackass!" *WHAM!* "Moron!" *WHAM!* "Idiot!" *WHAM!* "Directionally- impaired... useless, stupid.... JACKASS!!" ***WHAM!!!***  
  
  
  
The dragoon whimpered as he peeled himself from the wall he had found himself imbedded in. Tears streaming from his eyes, he waved his hands in the manner of a tour guide as he directed his customers. "This way, this way, I think it's this way, follow me please..." The now marginally-calmer girl and the bemused pig-tailed boy followed.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ranma groaned, "WHERE THE HELL ARE WE!?!?"  
  
Ryoga looked up from the futuristic plaque reading 'FATE'. "How should I know?"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Our heroic but now somewhat tired and cranky band of heroes stood on a small ledge overlooking a sea of lava.  
  
Ranma shook his head. "I don't think this is it."  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
The dwarf looked on in curiosity as he saw a human bend down to show him a map of some place called Guldove and to whisper to him in the language of his people, "Please, could you point me towards Termina? If I keep this up, I'm going to die of internal bleeding."  
  
The bearded midget nodded uncertainly and explained that they were in the Hydra Marshes, and that all he had to do was go through Fossil Valley to get to the place. Then the dwarf of the Hi-Ho clan watched in amusement as the powerful-looking dragoon cowered and prostrated himself as one of his companions threatened him with a kitchen accessory of massive proportions.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Ranma knelt down and offered thanks to the gods of this world and the next. They had reached their destination: the gates of the port-city of Termina. At least until he listened in to the conversation between the gate guard and his companions.  
  
The dragoon bellowed, "Be off, ragamuffin! Ye'll get no charity here!" Ukyo scowled and said in response, "Don't you recognize him? This is Ryoga Hibiki, a dragoon like yourself!"  
  
Ryoga shook his head angrily and muttered in an undertone that all three others heard, "He knows, Ukyo. Open the gate, Aldus, or I'll blow the damned thing up. You know I can." The guard glared, but eventually stepped aside and knocked a quick series of raps on the wooden gate. It swung to one side, and Ranma got his first view of Termina. 


	6. Apologies and Goodbyes

To those folks who liked this story, back in the day: I'm sure you've figured this out by now, but I won't be updating this one again. I've worked on it off and on for the last few years, and it's time to throw in the towel. Partly because I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't figure how to write myself out (which is a shame, becauseI wouldhaveliked to get to Mikel's replacement, who I like to call Super!Soun, at least), and partly because the interest just isn't there anymore.

Sorry about that.

If anyone would care to take up the reigns ofmy little idea, feel free.


End file.
